You’re ready to get the ball rolling and kick off the new project.

Just one more question…

How long will it take?

It’s one of the most common questions we get asked.

In this blog post, I’ll be breaking it down so you get a clear understanding of when your new website can go live.

So, how long does it take us to build your new website?

The short answer is websites that we build take, on average, 8-12 weeks.

The long answer is, it depends…

In all honesty, there are two parts to this question

How long will it take us?
How long will it take you?

That’s right, in some cases, the length of time it takes US is not the right question to ask.

More often than not, websites tend to take longer due to things outside our control.

Additional website features

For us to give you an approximate amount of time, we’ll need to understand exactly what you need from the new website. What extra features might you need that aren’t included in the core package?

Understandably, the more features you want us to build into your website the more time it will take.

What extra features add time to the website?

These are just a few examples of the kind of features that will add time to your website.

• A shop – we design your shop from scratch which needs your approval, plus we transfer all your products, including descriptions, images, stock levels etc.
• Specific page designs – such as a bespoke design for your about page or speaker page
• Portfolio – we’ll need to design this from scratch
• Website content – we can write your content for you if you wish
• Landing pages – we can either integrate Thrive Themes or design your pages from scratch. The costs vary but either way, this takes time
• Features like a booking calendar, email marketing integration, video library etc.

We understand that you want your website to be perfect and some, or all, of these features might be needed. Be aware that the more features you have, the longer it will take to complete the project.

Based on your requirements, we’ll always make you aware upfront how long we think it will take to get your website live.

Top tip

Be very specific at the start of the process with exactly what you need. Knowing all the information upfront will allow us to build this into the package and give you an accurate timescale. Changing things, later on, will delay the project further.

How many people are involved

This is something we’ve noticed over the years, the number of people involved in the project WILL impact the timescale of the project. It’s just a fact.

Dealing with one person will be quicker as there is only one person giving feedback and making decisions. On the other hand, if there are more people working on the project, they’ll generate more ideas and opinions. This is a great thing, as you get a wider range of perspectives and ideas. However, it does take more time.

Top tip

If you are part a team who is working on the project in-house, try to have one key person who will act as the contact and liaise with us throughout the process. Dealing with multiple people from your company might cause information to missed and feedback to be different.

Try to get your team to agree with feedback and suggestions before sending them over to us. In the past, we’ve been sent information from multiple team members with dramatically different suggestions, which has delayed the project.

How long does it take for you to get back to us

You want your website to be perfect (we do too). This is why you might take your time getting feedback to us.

While working on your website, we’ll send you some video updates, screenshots and emails. We’ll ask you questions, and we might need you to give us some feedback so that we can move on to the next phase of the project.

The time it takes for you to give us feedback can dramatically affect the timescale, and in some cases, it can halt the process entirely.

In the past, we’ve waited two months for someone to tell us they were happy with their homepage design.

Top tip

It’s important that you take some time before offering feedback on designs, sleep on it and take another look the next day. It’s surprising how much your opinions might change the next time you look. However, if it’s taking longer than a few days to hear back from you, this will delay the process.

Waiting for stuff from you

During the web design process, we’ll need some things from you to allow us to complete the website.

This could include;

• The copy for your website pages
• Images for the different pages
• Contact information
• Videos that you want to include
• Your logo in the correct file format
• Product information and pricing (for online shops)
• Staff timetables (for booking calendar)
• Event information (for selling tickets)
• Login information (e.g. your website, Mailchimp, Stripe)

In the past, we’ve been waiting 12-18 months to get content from clients. Meanwhile, your website project has completely stalled.

Top tip

Try to be extremely organised and proactive with this task. The quicker you get this done, the fresher it is in your mind, and it will keep the project on track. When it comes to getting the information together, use one main tool for storing all the documentation such as a Google Drive or Dropbox folder.

We do offer website copy as a service. If this is something you’re struggling with, then we can build this into the website package.

We are constantly testing new methods to make this process easier too, and we’ll have more information about this coming soon.

Things change dramatically throughout the process

The benefit of our process is that you get to see all page designs before they’re built. Nothing is done without your prior approval. That way you can have a look, make some notes, give feedback and we’ll make amendments.

Once you’re happy, we can then build the website based on those designs.

There are bound to be changes you’ll want to make, and that’s completely fine, but these are usually small tweaks that don’t impact the overall structure of the site.

If we agree on a design and later down the line things change dramatically, this will, understandably, extend the process, and in most cases, the cost of the website.

Top Tip

Before starting the project, make sure you are fully aware of what you want. This includes…

• The features of your website
• Your key messaging
• The key products and services you want to promote
• Your brand and style
• Your target audience

If you haven’t already, check out our website buyers guide for extra help on this.

The more preparation you do, the better the starting platform for us to build you a high-impact website.

Much like the previous point, it’s always best to take some extra time before giving feedback on the initial designs. It’s important that we have included all the features you need at this stage to avoid adding more time to the project later on.

Website timescale examples

Below, I’ve given some examples of how your project might look depending on your requirements

10-week example – Core package

• One person involved
• 2-3 unique pages designs
• Feedback within 1-2 days
• Three online meetings
• You already have content for the new website

16-week example – Core package + Additional features

• Two people involved, for example, an extra designer
• 3-6 unique pages designs
• Feedback within a week
• 3-5 online meetings
• 3-5 additional features, for example, a video library, booking facility, email marketing integration
• You might need to create new content and send images for the new site

26 week example – Bespoke package + 3+ staff

• 3-5 people involved
• 6+ unique page designs
• Feedback within two weeks
• 6+ online meetings
• 5+ additional features, e.g. video library, booking facility, online shop, email marketing integration, event calendar
• New content pages

Summary

As you can see, the timescale of your web design project depends on many factors, and it can change dramatically during the process.

There’s no clear answer to how long it will take. It could take eight weeks if we have everything we need upfront or it could also take 18 months+ if we’re still waiting for things from you.

At least now you have some handy tips to keep the timeline as short as possible so we can your new website live sooner.

Plus, we’re always super excited about getting your website on our portfolio, so it’s our best interest to keep you on track.

Over to you

Do you have any top tips you want to add? Maybe a productivity hack or a team management tool? We’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below.

Martin Huntbach

Web designer & marketer for small businesses. Martin is an experienced search engine and web design specialist, with over a decade of experience working with large corporations to small businesses.

jammydigital.com

The post How long will it take to build your website? appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.

Below, I wanted to outline the main reasons why we think you shouldn’t work with us.

1. You can’t afford it

Website design prices can vary. The average website can cost anything from £500 to £10,000+. Our web design prices range from £2997 – £4997. This can be off putting to some business owners. We get it. Our websites are a significant investment, but they’re exactly that, an investment.

The reason we charge this amount is based on the time it takes and research that’s involved. We create a design concept that is tailored around your specific goals, whether that’s getting your users to sign up to your email list or to fill out a contact form on your website. We have to understand your business fully to be able to build you an effective website.

Some business owners don’t want that. They just want an online billboard. If that’s what you want, we’re probably not right for you.

We want to deliver you a healthy return on investment. For a more detailed idea of what you can get for your money, read our recent post, How Much Does It Cost For A Website?

2. You don’t want to do any work

To able to create the best possible website, we need some help from you. If you were hoping that we’ll do 100% of the work and that you won’t have to lift a finger then things are going to be difficult.

Before we begin building your website we’ll have a meeting, usually via Skype. We’ll spend an hour or so talking about your business and finding out more about your products and services and overall business goals. We’ll need to ask you a few questions to try and understand as much as possible before we move forward.

We’ll then send you a questionnaire to fill out, where we ask you more detailed questions. It’s a worthwhile process, but it does take some effort on your part. We really want to understand your audience, the benefits of your products or services and why someone would choose you over your competitors. All of this valuable information will add to the final design which makes it extremely important. It takes some time but it’s worth it.

3. You want a website fast

If you’re looking for a rush job, then we are not the agency for you.

Our websites take 6-10 weeks on average to complete and for good reason. Your website is the most important tool in growing your business online.

Below, I’ve detailed our process and why it takes longer than you might think.

Research (1-2 weeks)

To be able to design a website that’s right for you, we need to spend a certain amount of time researching you, your market and your competitors. Along with doing our own research we’ll be gathering information from you via our initial Skype call and your questionnaire. We’ll also send you a few emails if we need any more clarification.

Planning (1-2)

After we have enough information from the research, we can start planning out your website. This will include lots of sketches on a whiteboard, post-it notes and lots of coffee. After all, we want to be wide awake when we’re getting the blueprints together for your new site.

Mockup (1-2 weeks)

Once we are happy with the plan of attack, we then move onto the design stage. This is where we bring together all of the research and planning to create a mockup of your new website. We will design you a homepage layout on photoshop that shows you how the website will look before we build it. We’ll also send a helpful video explaining why we designed it the way we did.

Build (3-4 weeks)

After you’ve seen the mockup and are happy, we then get to work designing your new website. This includes all the geeky stuff such as; coding your website, adding plugins, creating search engine friendly URLs and all the other stuff that comes with creating a high performance website.

Factoring all these things in, the whole process can take 2-3 months and believe it or not we see that as a good thing. I think we’d be doing you a serious disservice if we could get your website up quickly, which is why we just don’t work that way.

4. You don’t have time to provide us with information

We understand, you’re busy and you have a business to run. We will need around 5 -10 hours of your time if you choose to hire us to build your website. If you can’t find this time, we might not be the right fit for you.

Below, I’ve included a breakdown of how much time you will need to set aside.

• Initial chat – 1hr
• Filling out your questionnaire – 1hr
• Reviewing the mockup and giving feedback – 1hr
• Emails conversations and phone calls – 1hr
• Creating content* – 5 hrs
• Sending us images and text – 1hr

*Some of our packages include content writing so you should consider using this if you’re short on time.

Let’s face it, you know your business more than us, and we treat you as the expert.

Yes, we will research, plan, design and build your website. However, for it to work effectively, we need your help. The more information we have, the better the website will be.

5. You want a Yes Man (or woman)

Some people know exactly what they want their website to look like. They’ll have the exact design in their heads. The colours, the layout, the font…everything. They just need a web designer to do it for them. Unfortunately, we are not that kind of agency.

Unless you’re a digital marketing specialist with years of experience, it’s likely that your ideas need some improvement. It’s ok to have a vague idea of how you want the website to look, however, you need to trust that we know what we’re doing. That’s why you’re hiring us, after all.

We have years of experience in building high performance websites that look great, convert visitors and work well on search engines, why would you not want to use our expertise?

We view the relationship with our clients as a partnership, where we invest ourselves into your business and it’s success. Sometimes, that might mean we come up with new ideas, or make suggested changes. Plus, if I’m being honest, I’d struggle to keep my mouth shut if I thought something wouldn’t work. It’s in my nature.

6. You want to sit back and let the money roll in

Build it and they will come, right? Not exactly.

It would be great if you could just pay a web designer to build you a website and then you sit back and let the money roll in. This is rarely the case. If this is you, then you may have to go back to the drawing board.

Once your website is live, it will require some work from you to promote it or you could always pay someone to do it for you. Either way, you would have a plan of action in place to attract visitors to your website such as;

• A Content marketing strategy
• Facebook advertising campaign
• SEO strategy
• Google AdWords campaign
• Email marketing strategy

If you do understand that marketing is important and you’re prepared to do the work then we have some good news. After we build your website you get a free 1 hr digital marketing coaching session via Skype or a personalised marketing plan as a PDF. That means you’ll have a marketing strategy to go along with your brand new website.

We want you to have every possible chance to succeed and if you’re prepared to do the work, we’ll be right there with you.

7. You want the next Facebook

Unfortunately, we’re not Zuckerberg, making the next Facebook, Google or Amazon is going to be difficult. If you wanted the next big social media thing, you’ll need a team of developers available 24/7 to keep the site going. We just don’t have the capacity nor would we want to.

Summary

So there you have it. The 7 reasons you shouldn’t work with us.

We pride ourselves on being upfront and transparent, which is one of the reasons for this particular post. We would hate for any business owner to hire us for the wrong reasons.

If you’re still here and excited, then great! We’d love to hear more about your ideas, your business and what you want to achieve.

If you’re interested in getting a website, call us on 0161 410 1990

Martin Huntbach

Web designer & marketer for small businesses. Martin is an experienced search engine and web design specialist, with over a decade of experience working with large corporations to small businesses.

jammydigital.com

The post 7 Reasons You Shouldn’t Work With Us appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.